


All I Need for Now is You to Save Me

by sunsetmagnolia



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, M/M, all fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:42:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24416809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetmagnolia/pseuds/sunsetmagnolia
Summary: Everyone has superpowers that set in when they're kids. Michael's is fire.(The whole thing isn't in first person I promise, just go with it.)Title from January Gloom by All Time Low
Relationships: Michael Clifford/Calum Hood
Kudos: 27





	All I Need for Now is You to Save Me

_From the day I entered school, everyone assumed I was doomed to be a villain. In any other context it would sound ridiculous, but you know as well as I do that that’s not how this story ends._

Michael possessed the power to manipulate fire. It was more than his parents had signed up for – he was an unapologetically rambunctious kid – but they were kind and supportive. That was more than he could say for his teachers, who all acted like he could not only control fire, but like he was made of it. They treated him with kid gloves, babying him for long enough that he began to see a pattern, and that none of his friends were being treated the same way. The only other kid in his class who they stayed this far away from was a kid whose power was electricity. That kid had been a late bloomer, and his power had been discovered when he sneezed one time and accidentally caused a power outage through the whole school. Michael had never had any incidents, although sometimes he thought about changing that.

_I’ve never lost control of my powers like I did that day. You know which one. You walked in and I got distracted and of course you saved the day like you always do._

All the gossip from high school and on was about dating, obviously, and people began to see a pattern. Compatibility was everything. People who had similar powers began to group together, and Michael found himself surrounded by jocks with super-strength who tolerated him just because they all felt like they were equally capable of destruction and that their brand of chivalry was in choosing not to be. Obviously no one ever thought of _their_ powers as villainous, so he used them as a shield as he made his way through school, trying not to attract too much attention.

_I always expected my future partner’s power to be ice. Call me a romantic. How was I supposed to know you and I could be so much more… versatile?_

Michael was a born creative. He never considered himself particularly helpful, partially because he was never pushed toward the (overdone) superhero route. Public displays of heroism were far from his cup of tea. He took up guitar as soon as he proved to his parents that he could control his powers enough to keep from setting alight instruments that would cost them good money. All his other hobbies, he cycled through fairly quickly. He learned in science class one time – perhaps the only thing he ever learned in science class – that burning different things would make different colored flames, so he spent a week soaking socks in different types of chemicals and having Ashton launch them a mile into the air so he could light them on fire and watch them spark into different colors. His favorite was the one that burned bright green. That hobby ended when he ran out of socks and realized he would have to go buy more. For a while he tried to figure out fire-breathing, but once he realized that was more of a magic trick than a power thing, he lost interest. He had learned to light candles from different rooms long ago. But he never stopped playing guitar.

_Didn’t you admit to me that night that you hadn’t planned to walk in? Something must have drawn you to this one bar. Or maybe you just wanted a drink. Either way, you got lucky._

Michael had played so many open mics that he stopped keeping track. He had been nervous at first, especially after the event coordinator had made him promise he wasn’t a siren, but not only had he never seen a siren there, he had also lost all his nerves. He was halfway through playing his second song of three when he caught the eye of someone in the crowd. He wasn’t one to make eye contact with people while he sang, but something about these dark brown eyes made him unable to look away. In a moment of inspiration, and a pause in the song, he lit the man’s shot on fire. How was Michael supposed to know that whatever he was drinking would burn so tall and blue that he dropped the shot in surprise and the whole bar went up. Michael continued to sing, while also trying to control the flames, but there were so many different types of drinks along the bar that he couldn’t keep it contained. Instead, he watched helplessly as the bartenders tried to put it out with their towels and then suddenly, the whole bar was covered in an inch of fresh snow. The man with the brown eyes looked at Michael, trying to put the pieces together while Michael finished singing and then decided not to do his third song after all. He scrambled to get his guitar put away before going over to the bar and apologizing to the bartenders.

“So it _was_ you?” the man asked him when the bartenders waved him away.

Michael smiled shamefully and held out his hand, a tiny flame dancing in the middle of his palm, and then watched in astonishment as the flame turned to smoke and steam, replaced by a tiny pool of water. He looked up in astonishment. “You did the snow?”

“Surprised that it worked, but yeah. My name’s Calum.”

“Michael. Sorry about the shot.”

“Buy me another and we’ll call it even?”

_All this to say, I’m so glad you picked that night to walk into a brand new place. I’m more glad you didn’t get scared away by me being a disaster. And I’m the most glad you didn’t say no when I asked if you wanted to leave with me._

Calum walked beside Michael, guitar case keeping space in between them, as they wandered with no destination. They ended up in a park by the beach, salt-water air hanging warm in between them as they sat in the grass.

“That fire thing on your hand, do you think you could do that on me?”

Michael stared at Calum, considering. “Are you sure?” No one had ever asked him to do that before. “Even after what happened at the bar?”

Calum responded by holding out his hand.

Michael focused as hard as he could on not burning Calum as he created a little flame on Calum’s palm. In the dark blue of dusk, he could see the fire reflected in Calum’s eyes. He saw Calum’s face get a little more thoughtful as he stared at the flame, and then there was a thin layer of water in his hand, and the flame spread across the whole thing.

“I’m not doing that,” Michael said, not sure if he should panic.

“No,” Calum replied reassuringly. “I’m evaporating the water so the oxygen that comes out is catching fire.”

“That’s so cool,” Michael breathed, leaning in closer.

Calum closed his hand and reopened it, holding an ice cube, making Michael laugh. Michael in turn sat a little flame on top of it and they watched it melt.

_I almost added that picture Luke took of us walking together holding hands, the one where I was carrying my guitar and leaning my head on your shoulder, but I couldn’t bring myself to be that cheesy, not even on our anniversary. I love you Calum, and I love you for loving me back. xx Michael_


End file.
